Formative Feedback Strategies in the COVID-safe classroom

26 August 2021 I The Queensland Institute

Programa Nacional de Inglés (PRONI) Conference, México

This week, an incredible 9,643 English language educators across Mexico joined QI Directors, Philippa Coleman and Fiona Wiebusch, to participate in their webinar titled:

‘Practice makes progress: Formative feedback strategies for the COVID-safe English language classroom’

The QI team were honoured to be invited by the Australian Embassy in Mexico and the Programa Nacional de Inglés (PRONI) Committee to present their talk on the final day of the conference for English language educators from elementary schools across Mexico.

The theme of the PRONI conference was ‘Resilience in the COVID era’. The two-week conference featured topics on best practice in English language teaching for young learners, focusing on assessment and feedback, in both the physical and virtual classroom.

The conference included invited guest speakers from all regions of Mexico, as well as Cambridge University Press, the British Council, and The Queensland Institute Pty Ltd. The event was broadcast to approximately 2,500 participants online and streamed LIVE to thousands of educators logged in via StreamYard.

Philippa and Fiona’s interactive webinar featured a range of formative feedback strategies to help elementary teachers to identify language learner needs, monitor learner progress, and establish regular channels of communication.

One of the strategies the QI team shared was using freely available video and audio apps, such as FlipGrid or Vocaroo, to minimise the risks of paper handling of student assignments while maintaining student-teacher dialogues.

“It was incredible to see so many people join our session on the final day of the conference,” Ms Wiebusch said.

“Despite the large audience, the dialogue with our colleagues in Mexico felt intimate, warm and lively! It was so inspiring reading their comments and hearing about their challenges and triumphs. All true examples of resilience.”

Ms Coleman shared her thoughts on the conference in Spanish, ”Nos encantó trabajar con los maestros en México. Esperamos volver a verlos pronto.” which means ‘We loved working with the teachers in Mexico. We hope to see you again soon.”

The Queensland Institute Pty Ltd extends sincere thanks to the PRONI Committee and the incredible team at the Australian Embassy in Mexico for their support.